


Of Fire and Ice (and zero regrets)

by Tokinya



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Magic AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-19 22:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5982697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tokinya/pseuds/Tokinya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They had gifts that were scorned upon and in the end, they did what they had to do. Free themselves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Fire and Ice (and zero regrets)

**Author's Note:**

> Did this as a drabble prompt request on tumblr uwu

The ball of flame crackles and pops in the palm of Nishinoya’s hand, the heat licking comfortingly across the surface of his skin. He feels a pair of eyes upon him and he lifts his head to meet Tsukishima’s steady gaze, enthralled by the tiny ice crystals lazily circling around him. Nishinoya wants to smile but he doesn’t know if he should, knowing for a fact that their village was now a manifestation of hell itself with rampaging fire devouring everything in its sight and thick black smoke rising as high as he could see, blanketing the evening sky.

He’s conflicted really, between admiring the ethereal sight of Tsukishima, the wielder of ice standing in the midst of raging hellfire, and feeling the crushing guilt of murdering his entire village within a single night.

It was fine, wasn’t it? He had been an outcast like Tsukishima since the day they discovered their… Gifts. This was their just desserts for hurting them when they had done no harm to the people, right?

An eye for an eye,

a tooth for a tooth.

An entire village for the suffering they withstood.

“I was just trying–…”  _To show them we weren’t the enemy. That we could help. That we didn’t want to hurt anyone. That–_

“I know.” Crystals surround the flame in Nishinoya’s palm, growing into a flurry of frosty shards that stubbornly coat the fire despite the threat of melting. They’re careful not to injure Nishinoya and they don’t stop until the flame flickers weakly in protest before completely dying out, leaving a frozen shell in it’s place.

To Nishinoya, it’s not a foreign experience; Tsukishima has made miniature ice sculptures for him before when they were hiding away from the hateful gaze of their society. He’s felt the solid weight of Tsukishima’s gift in his hands unlike the flames he conjures. He’s held it tight till it numbed his fingers, till it melted and evaporated into nothingness.

He’s pulled out of his thoughts when icy fingers tentatively brush over the back of his hand and Nishinoya reaches up to cup Tsukishima’s face, smoothing a warm thumb over his cheekbone. Beads of perspiration have already begun to gather at the ends of golden locks that glowed under the burning hues of orange, a few trickling down the side of his face.

Nishinoya remembers Tsukishima doesn’t take well to heat, often seeking shade under a shelter or remaining indoors whenever he can. Nishinoya, who’s always fired up and ready to push limits, is the one who approaches Tsukishima first despite knowing his status as an outcast and the first time they came into physical contact, Tsukishima violently recoils back with a hiss as if he had stuck his hand in an open fire. It’s only through Tsukishima’s sensitivity to heat that Nishinoya finds out he’s like Tsukishima, yet the complete opposite.

Everything went mostly downhill from there, the both of them ostracised from their family and peers and as much as it pained the extrovert of the two, he’s thankful he’s not completely alone.

Now, Tsukishima barely flinches away from Nishinoya’s heated touches, leans into them even, and it brings out from Nishinoya a different kind of warmth that is gentle, one that doesn’t instantly flare and incinerate. Sometimes Nishinoya thinks he might melt Tsukishima if he’s not careful but Tsukishima never fails to remind him that he’s not a fragile ice sculpture displayed as just a trophy.

A wintry gust sweeps past them and it takes less than a second for the blaze to be instantly put out, bringing the phrase ‘when hell freezes over’ to life. The sweltering heat becomes a chilly draft that blows right through their thin tattered clothes, and massive pillars of ice replace the sea of flames. What once stood as a quaint and self-sufficient village, now laid in charred lifeless ruins, temporarily encapsulated by the beauty of their handiwork.

“Noya-san, we’re free.” Tsukishima’s voice is light on Nishinoya’s ears, ringing like a breeze piercing through the remains of the noxious smoke hanging in the atmosphere. 

Nishinoya lowers his hand to tightly intertwine with Tsukishima’s, letting the frozen flame fall and shatter into pieces. “Yeah, we are.”

 


End file.
